Fruits and vegetables have always been recognized as part of a healthy diet. However, juice extracted at home or the office from fruits and vegetables has only recently become popular. Machines that extract juice from fruits and vegetables, also known as juicers, typically include a plastic or metal housing which contains an electric motor driving a disc, screw, or other mechanism to squeeze, shred, and/or masticate food introduced to the mechanism via a food chute. The juicer will typically include a pusher that allows the user to force the food into the chute and engage with the squeezing, shredding, or masticating mechanism. As the food is processed, the pulp is pushed into a container for disposal and the juice is delivered to the user via a spout.
One of the biggest complaints from users of juicers is that the spout of the device will continue to drip or leak liquid long after the device has been deactivated. Many juicers advertise “non-drip” spout solutions that are either unable to prevent drips or are so labor intensive and time-consuming as to make them impractical. For example, these non-drip solutions include caps that must be screwed on and off the spout. Another solution is to snap or otherwise orient the spout into place, switching between a closed position and an open position. However, these non-drip solutions all have deficiencies. The screw-on cap, for example, is easy to lose during use and is both labor-intensive and time-consuming. The moveable spout, for example, can be small and difficult to maneuver, and often requires the user to get their hands dirty when flipping the wet, juice-covered spout into the non-drip position after use.
Patent Publication No. CN201119803 discloses a spout with an attachment that has a spigot and a spring that moves the spigot up and down between an open position and a closed position. However, even in the open position the spigot of the disclosed device at least partially covers the spout. Further, the user does not push different points on the spigot itself to move the spigot between the open position and the closed position, instead using a more complicated tab and spring mechanism to move it back and forth.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for methods and apparatus that give the user a simple and clean way to prevent liquid from dripping from the spout of a food processing device when it is not in use.